Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Multiple treatment modalities have been employed for the management of melasma with minimal to no success.

OBJECTIVE:

We propose fractional resurfacing as a new treatment modality for melasma.

METHODS:

A 31-year-old Caucasian female with facial epidermal and dermal melasma, resistant to multiple courses of topical therapies, was treated with two sessions of full-face fractional resurfacing (Fraxel(TM) Laser; Reliant technologies, San Diego, CA), separated by a three-week interval. Clinical improvement was assessed by Wood's Lamp examination as well as parallel and cross-polarized comparative photography at baseline and 6 months later.

RESULTS:

Marked reduction in epidermal and dermal facial pigmentation was observed at the six-month follow-up visit.

CONCLUSION:

Fractional resurfacing may prove to be an effective and safe treatment modality for lightening of the epidermal and dermal pigmentation of melasma. Further studies with long-term follow-up periods and multiple patients with diverse skin phototypes and different variants of melasma are warranted.